Monday, August 05, 2013

Just how different are the Super Megaforce Ranger Keys?

In celebration of Power Rangers’ 20th
anniversary, Power Rangers Super Megaforce is coming. The new show, premiering
in 2014 is the direct sequel of Power Rangers Megaforce, in which the Megaforce
team gain the Legendary Morphers, which with the use of special keys allow them
to transform into past Ranger teams. Super Megaforce is an adaptation of
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, which is also the Super Sentai series 35th
anniversary. In line with this, Power
Rangers Super Megaforce will feature a new gimmick – a release of the keys.
However, as the show is an adaptation, there are also Japanese versions of the
aforementioned keys, called Ranger Keys.

But what are the differences between the Ranger Keys and the
yet unnamed keys from the upcoming Super Megaforce toyline? (From here on in I’ll
refer to them as Gokaiger and Super Megaforce keys)

1. SCULPT

The Gokaiger toy, the prop version (middle) and the Super Megaforce toy.

The Gokaiger keys are show-accurate in terms of sculpt. They
retain nearly 100% the look of the keys in the show. (With a minor exception
for Capsule toys, which we’ll get to in a bit.) Here’s where the Super
Megaforce keys fall short. While the Super Megaforce keys seem to have retained
much of the upper body sculpt of its predecessors, the arms and legs are
relatively ‘scrunched’-looking, leaving the figures looking rather top-heavy.
The Gokaiger keys take this round.

2. SIZE

The Super Megaforce Keys are a couple of heads smaller than the Gokai Keys.

It’s not new that toys are resized to be smaller than the
props for kid use. Thus the Super Megaforce keys are, not surprisingly between ½
to 2/3 smaller than their predecessors. For play that’s okay. However, for
show-accuracy, the Gokaiger keys win.

3. PAINT QUALITY

Just hold your finger 2cm over the Ranger Key and watch the paint magically disappear!

Bandai Japan role-play toys are notorious for chipping with
use, unlike Bandai America products that last longer paint-wise. While silver,
gold and Neptune-painted toys from Bandai Japan already have the tendency to
have paint come off, the Gokaiger keys proved to be worse with paint sometimes
wearing from simple touching. The incredibly brittle paint caused die-hard
collectors to come up with better ways to store their stuff. However, given
Bandai America has a better history with paint, it’s safe to say that the
Bandai America keys will be longer-lasting.

Gokaiger Keys were released in different ways. Buying the
versions with Ramyune candies, you will receive Gokaiger Keys painted with the
exception of the black space between their legs. Buying Capsule (Gashapon)
versions means you basically have to place stickers on your Gokaiger keys for
the torso designs. The problem with stickers is that you may apply them wrongly
or they wear over time.It looks,
however that the Super Megaforce Keys will be all-painted- each and every key.
So wrinkled paper stickers are a thing of the past.

5. BASE COLORS

The "best" Gokaiger MagiShine has an orange base while the Super Megaforce one has Solaris Knight in gold.
The Gokaiger Go-On Silver has a gray base while the Super Megaforce version has Ranger Silver in silver.

One thing that had many disappointed with Gokaiger keys is the fact that they skimped on metallic plastic, leaving their gold keys with a light orange base and their silvers with a pale grey. They did, however, release a VERY small number of metallic Ranger Keys as well, but nowhere near enough to complete a collection. It does, however, look like the Super Megaforce keys WILL be carrying true-blue (ehem) gold and silver keys! So far the only exception seems to be Shadow Ranger, who will be in a flat color.

The prop key was metallic. The Gokaiger version had a near-lilac/indigo hue.

6. HINGING

The original Gokaiger deluxe and candy toy keys retain the prop keys' simple hinges.
The Gokaiger capsule toy keys snap on and break off whenever you like. The Super
Megaforce key hinges are constructed differently with a spring barb in the middle.

The Gokaiger keys, when bought with Candy or in deluxe sets,
have show-accurate hinges. These hinges are a simple metal bar through the
mid-section. They’re less show-accurate though, when bought through capsule
machines, as they have snap-lock hinges as opposed to true working hinges. However,
the Super Megaforce keys have a different hinge system, not at all
show-accurate BUT functional. These hinges have a single barb that allow the
keys to be “flipped open” like they are in the show. While it takes a lot of
training and strong fingers to flip Gokaiger keys, Super Megaforce keys promise
to do the work for you, easy as pie!

Note: Gokaiger has a limited set called the One-Click Ranger
Key Set that also flips. However, there’s a huge button on one side of each
that you need to click to open it. Most people aren’t a fan of the fact that it’s
a premium-ish set and yet you have to use stickers on it and that there’s a
ginormous thing sticking out of the sides of the keys.

7. STANDING

The Super Megaforce keys have one other change to the
original keys, in that they have flat stands. The flat stands, of course will
allow kids and collectors to stand their keys without fear of the domino effect
that accompanies standing Gokaiger ranger keys. But of course, this is a matter
of preference, as it also affects the look of the sculpt.

8. KEY BLADES

The Gokaiger keys (left) and the Super Megaforce keys (right). The show props mostly have key blades like the red Gokaiger key shown.

We have yet to see what the functionality is of each Super
Megaforce key. Will it be like the Gokaiger keys which call out the team names
once inserted in the morpher and the color in the blaster? Or will it be like
the Action Card Game cards that announce the team and the color at once
(individual rangers)? However, the key blades have cuts that are wider than in
the original key blade. So if it’s sculpt your after, Gokaiger keys take this
round.

9. PURCHASABILITY

If you're familiar with Justice League Unlimited by Mattel, then you'll have some idea of how the Gokaiger keys are packed and sold. There will be sets of deluxe keys and some of them with overlap with what you have. Some of those keys will also be available as singles, or perhaps some are ONLY available as singles. What's worse, if you're in Japan or anywhere there's a capsule machine, there's a gamble with how you can acquire said singles in a random system. Like JLU, the final pieces for the collection were also released in a web-exclusive premium set. Needless to say there are so many challenging ways to get a Ranger Key and if you're not from Japan, you can compound that with the effort and cost of auctions, surplus shops and middle men. The Super Megaforce keys will more likely be easier to find. We can speculate, based on the Action Card Game, that they might put a key or two in with every toy purchase. Or they may go the mini-figure/Mega Bloks route and blind pack some of them for trade-and-collect. If you're not in Japan, these may be easier to collect. Also the treasure chest that they'll be selling looks like it may hold more keys than the Gokaiger version.

10. NUMBER OF KEYS

There are 199 Basic characters in the Gokaiger key series, barring subsequent additional Rangers, Kamen Riders and Megazords. There are approximately 119 Basic characters in the Super Megaforce key series, barring any surprise new teams (Dairanger?)

Here's a quick overview of what's different with what version.

Base Color

Paint

Stickers

Hinges

Stands

Size

Gokaiger

Show props

Grey Resin

Entirely painted

Bow sticker

Metal bar

none

Exact size

Gokaiger

Deluxe

Ranger color

Painted

details

Bow sticker

Metal Bar

none

Exact size

Gokaiger

Candy

Ranger color

Painted

Details except for leg space

Bow sticker and leg space sticker

Metal bar

none

Exact size

Gokaiger

Gashapon

Ranger color

Painted details except for chest

Bow sticker and chest sticker

Snap lock

none

Exact size

Gokaiger

One-Click

Ranger color

Painted details except for chest

Bow sticker and chest sticker

Metal bar

none

Exact size

Megaforce show prop maquettes

Unknown, likely resin

Entirely painted

none

None. “belt color” instead of hinge

None but

mounted on acrylic stands

Double or triple the original size

Super Megaforce toy keys

Ranger color

Painted details

Bow sticker

Hinge bar

Flat stand

½ - 2/3 less

There you have it, folks! It’s quite a quandary for some
which of the versions is better, but without a doubt Ranger Key collecting is
STILL great fun for all and will continue for a couple more years thanks to the
new versions for Power Rangers Super Megaforce.